Hardness and elasticity

Thermoplastic elastomers are available in a range from very soft varieties to very hard varieties. This applies mostly to TPS varieties, which are available from 0 degrees Shore A. In that hardness, it is almost gel-like, which is very difficult to process.

Are you looking for a soft material, but are you unsure of which level of hardness you need? Breidenbach processes TPEs in a wide range of levels of hardness, allowing us to show you the options with a set of examples.

A mechanical property closely related to the hardness of a material is elasticity. In contrast to tensile strength, elasticity is mainly about the maximum amount of reshaping a certain material can withstand, and not about the amount of force.

Soft materials often have a higher elasticity than hard materials. And yet, materials with equal hardness can also exhibit major differences in elasticity properties.

Do you have an application in which a product has to be very flexible, and has to be stretched to many times its original size? Then you will need a material with a high ‘elasticity in breakage’ value.

Some types of TPE can be stretched to as much as 1000% of their original size. This provides many options for design and for the use of TPE material.

Do you want to find out more on the options TPE has to offer or do you want to have your product optimised? Our years of experience in processing TPE will enable us to make your project a success with the right material and the right design choices.